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GSM NEWS
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA
WINTER 2004 • VOLUME LVTH NO.4 • www.gsmn.org
Aug. 14-15 - Iron Range Field Trip
The field trip to the Iron Ranges in August was a
real adventure! We all rode in an air-conditioned
bus (with a bathroom!) and our Bus Driver was
just as enthusiastic about our trip as we were. We
met in Cloquet on Sat. AM, loaded onto the bus,
and drove to our first stop (see photo on right).
Our Leader, Dick Ojakangas grew up in the area,
and as we traveled, he told us several stories
about his youth, and how he got into the field of
geology. It was fun hearing all the tales of what
things were like, way back when. After lunch, we
visited the DNR Core Storage Library in Hibbing
and saw how drill core samples are stored. Many,
many boxes of cores are stacked on shelving that
reaches to the ceiling. Next stop was Mineview
in the Sky, which overlooks the Virginia Horn.
We saw some of the old mines from the top of
this mine dump. Good photo opportunities here.
Collecting at the Thunderbird North Mine. Great
specimens of Magnetite were found here.
The Natural Resources Research Institute in
Coleraine, MN.
Our first stop on Sunday was at the Soudan Iron
Mine. A tour of the Mine and the Physics
Research Facilities (2,340 feet below the surface)
lasted about 2 hours. We also stopped to view 2.7
Billion year old turbidite beds (greywacke) near
the Pike River Dam. And we spent a lot of time at
the Cliffs-Erie Mine (no longer active) where we
saw amazing stromatolites in the Biwabik Iron
Formation. This was a surface mine, so we drove
the bus directly to the destination. We saw a lot
of shallow "pits" and dumps too. Joel Evers, a
geologist with Cliffs, was our guide through this
area. He provided samples of anthraxolite for us
that he found in another area of the mine.
Anthraxolite is an organic bitumen (coal) that
contains 95% or more carbon. It is black with a
vitreous luster and resembles obsidian. Most of
us had never heard of it before. At our last stop,
we saw a large outcrop of archean pillowed
greenstone, located behind the Eveleth-Gilbert
Junior High school. What a trip! Very
educational and fun!
Dec. 6 Dino. Lab at Macalester — Olin-Rice Bldg. Room 100

GSM NEWS
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA
WINTER 2004 • VOLUME LVTH NO.4 • www.gsmn.org
Aug. 14-15 - Iron Range Field Trip
The field trip to the Iron Ranges in August was a
real adventure! We all rode in an air-conditioned
bus (with a bathroom!) and our Bus Driver was
just as enthusiastic about our trip as we were. We
met in Cloquet on Sat. AM, loaded onto the bus,
and drove to our first stop (see photo on right).
Our Leader, Dick Ojakangas grew up in the area,
and as we traveled, he told us several stories
about his youth, and how he got into the field of
geology. It was fun hearing all the tales of what
things were like, way back when. After lunch, we
visited the DNR Core Storage Library in Hibbing
and saw how drill core samples are stored. Many,
many boxes of cores are stacked on shelving that
reaches to the ceiling. Next stop was Mineview
in the Sky, which overlooks the Virginia Horn.
We saw some of the old mines from the top of
this mine dump. Good photo opportunities here.
Collecting at the Thunderbird North Mine. Great
specimens of Magnetite were found here.
The Natural Resources Research Institute in
Coleraine, MN.
Our first stop on Sunday was at the Soudan Iron
Mine. A tour of the Mine and the Physics
Research Facilities (2,340 feet below the surface)
lasted about 2 hours. We also stopped to view 2.7
Billion year old turbidite beds (greywacke) near
the Pike River Dam. And we spent a lot of time at
the Cliffs-Erie Mine (no longer active) where we
saw amazing stromatolites in the Biwabik Iron
Formation. This was a surface mine, so we drove
the bus directly to the destination. We saw a lot
of shallow "pits" and dumps too. Joel Evers, a
geologist with Cliffs, was our guide through this
area. He provided samples of anthraxolite for us
that he found in another area of the mine.
Anthraxolite is an organic bitumen (coal) that
contains 95% or more carbon. It is black with a
vitreous luster and resembles obsidian. Most of
us had never heard of it before. At our last stop,
we saw a large outcrop of archean pillowed
greenstone, located behind the Eveleth-Gilbert
Junior High school. What a trip! Very
educational and fun!
Dec. 6 Dino. Lab at Macalester — Olin-Rice Bldg. Room 100